GEORGE W. BUSH: FAILED TO GET THE JOB DONE FOR OHIO

GEORGE W. BUSH: FAILED TO GET THE JOB DONE FOR OHIO

George W. Bush has a failed record on the economy in Ohio.  He has stood by while our trade deficit has grown by record amounts and while American workers have watched their jobs sent overseas.  He has failed to address rising health care costs for families and businesses, further dragging down our economy. With no one fighting for them in the World Trade Organization or standing up to Chinese currency manipulation, Ohio workers know that they need a president who will take them in a new direction. 

OHIO’S ECONOMY HAS SUFFERED UNDER BUSH’S FAILED LEADERSHIP:

170,000 Lost Manufacturing Jobs.  Since George Bush took office, 170,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in Ohio since Bush took office.  [Bureau of Labor Statistics]

CHC Industries Closed Plant Because of Chinese Dumping.  CHC Industries, a maker of steel clothes hangers, was forced to close because of anti-competitive activities of Chinese manufacturers. "Until the end of last year, CHC Industries Inc. produced those hangers in a 40-employee plant on Cleveland's West Side. CHC decided to shutter the plant at the same time that it petitioned the U.S. International Trade Commission to stem a surge of Chinese hanger imports."  [Crain's Cleveland Business, 6/30/03]

496,000 Jobs Short of George Bush’s Prediction.  Annual projections in the 2002 Economic Report of the President implied that over 6 million new jobs would be created between January 2001 and July 2004.  Instead, we have lost more than 1 million jobs.  For the state of Ohio, this means they are 496,000 jobs short of what Bush predicted.  [Bureau of Labor Statistics; Economic Report of the President, 2002]

• 2011:  When Ohio Will See Its First New Job at Current Growth Rate.  Bush has touted job growth in Ohio this year.  But if we don’t act to jumpstart job growth, Ohio would have to wait until 2011 before seeing the first new job created.  [Bureau of Labor Statistics]

Average Wages for Growing Industries Pay $11,869 Less than in Contracting Industries.  In Ohio, average wages in industries that are growing pay $11,869 less than in industries that are contracting.  [EPI, “Average Wages in Growing and Contracting Industries, End of Recession Through November 2003]

BUSH HAS DONE NOTHING TO ENFORCE TRADE LAWS:

Bush Called Efforts to End Outsourcing a “Barrier.”  In a speech to the Women’s Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century Forum, George Bush defended the outsourcing of jobs overseas.  Bush said, “We cannot expect to sell our goods and services, and create jobs, if America and our partners, trading partners, start raising barriers and closing off markets.”  [George W. Bush, Women’s Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century Forum, 3/10/04]

In 2001, 2002, and Again In 2003, The Administration Took Only Limited And Partial Action Against China.  The Administration’s actions against China have been applicable to only a select few industries. The Administration waited until March 2004 to file its first WTO case against China’s discriminatory tax policies on foreign semiconductor producers.  Each year of inaction has sent the wrong message to China and allowed a culture of noncompliance to emerge in the critical first three years of China’s WTO membership.  The administration’s own United States Trade Representative (USTR) admitted that 2003 was “a year in which China’s WTO implementation efforts lost a significant amount of momentum.” [Freeman, Charles. “Testimony to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, February 2004]

The Bush Administration Has Defended Tax Breaks For Companies That Ship Jobs Overseas And Called Efforts To Reduce Them “Stupid.”  Commerce Undersecretary Grant Aldonas said that Kerry’s proposal to end tax breaks for companies that shift jobs overseas:  “It’s a tax system that’s calculated to drive manufacturers offshore, rather than to keep [them] here… It’s the single stupidest idea since the Smoot-Hawley tariffs in terms of penalizing our manufacturing sector.”  [National Journal’s Congress Daily, 4/13/04]

“Chao: Outsourcing Creates Jobs in U.S.”  Today, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao spoke of the benefits of outsourcing. "People talk about (outsourcing) a lot," Chao said in an interview after appearing before Missouri delegates at the Republican convention. "The anxiety belies the numbers."  … While the movement of U.S. jobs to other countries has caused great public concern, Chao said, "I'm trying to get out the facts" without sounding "callous." [AP, 9/1/2004]

THE RESULT IS A HIGHER TRADE DEFICIT THAT HURTS OUR ECONOMY: 

A Record $490 Billion Trade Deficit in 2003.  Last year, the trade deficit reached a record $490 billion – with a $549 billion trade deficit in goods.  The trade deficit was 5 percent of GDP – also a record.  Forty percent of our public debt is now held outside the US; more than 20 percent in Japan and China alone.  [BEA & Census, Treasury]

Exports Are Down Under President Bush – The First President Since Herbert Hoover.  Exports have fallen in inflation-adjusted terms under President Bush – the first drop under any President since Herbert Hoover.  In contrast, most post-World War II Presidential terms have seen 15 to 30 percent real export growth.  [BEA]

Outsourcing Has Grown While Insourcing Has Collapsed.  Between 2001 and 2003 foreign investment in the United States from $144 billion to $72 billion – a 50 percent drop.  At the same time, America was investing more abroad:  rising from $104 billion in 2001 to $136 billion in 2003.  As a result, America when from a net inflow of $40 billion of foreign direct investment in 2001 to a net deficit of $64 billion in 2003.  [BEA]